Liquid-dispensing apparatus



Nov. 23, 1926. 1,607,899

R. H. LONG LIQUID DISPENSING APPARATUS Filed July 26, 1923 WI TNESS: D IN VEN TOR Patented Nov. 23, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD H. LONG, 01: ALAMEDA, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OI TWO-BIRTHS TO EDWIN B. WILLARD, OF BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA.

LIQUID-DISPENSING APPARATUS.

Application filed July 26, 1928. Serial No. 653,958.

The general object of this invention is to provide a means of accurately dispensing a predetermined quantity of the llquid for which the a paratus is used, by providmg adjustable e ectric contacts on the d1al of a liquid meter, and control buttons WhlCl']. operate electric relays which in turn control an electrically operated valve and pump of the dispenser.

One form of the invention is lllustrated in the accompaning drawing in which- Figure 1 is a diagrammatical'vlew showing the various parts of the invention; Fig. 2 1s a fragmentar and detail plan, on an enlarged scale, 0 one of the ad ustable meter contacts and Fig. 3 is a cross-sectlon at the said adjustable meter contact, the contact being shown in full; Fig. 4-is a diagrammatic view in elevation of the stop button of my apparatus, the contacts thereof being normally closed; and Fig. 5 1s a similar elevation, but is that of the operating buttons, the contacts thereof belng normally 0 en.

The liquid to be dispensed may be forced through the meter A by an electrically driven ump 11, which is connected in a circuit 5 indicated in Fig. 1; or a head for forcing the liquid through the meter may be produced by any other suitable means. After leaving the meter, .the l1qu1d flows through an electrically operated valve B to the delivery nozzle at the end of the plpe line or hose.

In the meter A, which may be of any. approved type, are contacts H arranged on the surface of a dial N, and the meter 1s further provided wtih a pointer or hand It secured in any suitable manner to a shaft of the meter and adapted to make contact with the contacts H, which are numbered suc cessively l to 10 in correspondence with the buttons D in order to indicate the number of gallons of liquid to be delivered. The main electric circuit T, in which relays C are connected, is ordinarily open at the buttons D, as is shown diagrammatically at d in Fig. 5, but is closed as soon as a button D is depressed, the buttorf contacts being automatically held open, as is common in a certain type of electric-contact devices and therefore needs no further illustration.

Included in the circuit T is also the magare in contact, but are held open when the button P is de ressed.

In each of t e circuits controlled by the buttons D, I provide contacts E, which are operated by armatures on the relays C and are interlocks of the buttons D, so that the buttons D need be depressed only momentarily in order to render a delivery. A shunt is also provided for each relay circuit by connecting one end of a line, as at a in the circuit controlled by the button D, and the other end of the line with the respective contact H, as at b, which indicates the connection with the respective contact 10 in Fig. 1, so that the shunted circuit will follow the path indicated by the arrows e to f to the winding F.

It should be observed that the hand R is normally set at 0 or 10, in order to indicate also, when a complete revolution of the hand has been made, that ten gallons of liquid have passed through the meter.

The operation is as follows: If, for exampzle the button D is depressed, contact at rent is shunted at a, so that it flows in the direction of the arrows f to the Winding F of the valve B, thus energizing the winding and causing the valve B to open and in its turn to close the contacts G in the circuit S and thereby to start operation of the pump 11. Liquid immediately begins to flow through the meter A and causes the hand R to revolve in a. clock-Wise direction. As soon as the hand ceases to contact with the tor that button is'made and the our contact H at O, the shunt circuit isbroken,

and the current is caused to flow through the winding of the relay C controlled by the button D, thereby closing the contacts E for the same relay and rendering the deression of the button no longer necessary. Dr course, it is necessary to liold the button I) depressed until the hand It has moved tion of a second. The current will there-- after flow in the direction of the arrow 0 through the contacts E and through the relay winding in the direction or the unmarked arrows, through the winding F and will thus continue to hold the valve B open and at the same time to keep the pump 11 in operation.

If it is desired that a full measure of ten gallons of the liquid be delivered, the operator simply allows the hand to continue revolving,as the movement of the hand is directly controlled by the flow of the liquid through the meter. lVhen the hand again reaches the contact H at O or 10, the current flows in the direction of the arrow 0' and through the contacts E to the shunt line at a to the Winding F. Immediatel thereafter, since the current is diverted rom the relay C, controlled by the D button, and the relay thus is de'energized, its contacts E open, so that the circuit through the Winding F is broken and causes the valve B to close and thereby to open the circuit S for the pump 11, which thus stops so that the liquid ceases to flow through the meter A.

After. the B button has been depressed, should it be desired tochange the delivery to a smaller quantity than the ten gallons indicated on the D button, for example, to one gallon and a half of liquid, the operator simply depresses the stop button P when the hand R has reached a position midway between the contacts H marked 1 and 2, as indicated in Fig. 1. The contacts 1? are then opened and thereby also the circuit T, With the result that the liquid immediately ceases to flow through the meter.

Again, should it be desired, after the op erator has depressed a button D, that a larger quantity of liquid be delivered, it is only necessary to let the hand It reach the contact H corresponding with the number on the depressed button D, and then depress the button indicating the larger quantity. For instance, if the operator has depressed the D button, the hand R will stop at the contact H If it then should be desired to change the quantity of the delivery'to five gallons,

the operator depresses the button D and the meter will start to operate, as before, and the hand R will stop at the contact H thus indicating that a total of five gallons of liquid has been delivered.

It is obvious that the revolving hand B does not-stop except at the contact H corres onding with the number of the depressed D button, unless the stop button P is deressed, as the contacts H, over which the and passes beforeit reaches the corresponding contact, are then in open circuits,

because the respective contacts E in those circuits are open, while for the selected quantity of liquid the contacts E remain closed and thus close the circuit T until the hand R reaches the corresponding contact H on the dial N.

As has already been mentioned, the starting point or the normal position of the hand R, indicatedby dotted lines in Fig. 1, is alwa s at 0 or 10, except asdescribed hereinbe ore. Therefore, before beginning an operation, the hand is manually turned to the 0 oint on the dial.

n order to accurately determine the quantity of liquid to be delivered, the contacts H may be made adjustable. In this connection, andas one simple means, I prefer slotting the meter dial as at J to receive the shank K (Figs. 2 and 3) of the contact button H, and use the nut L for clamping the contact in adjusted position. The nut L may also be used to anchor the wire terminal M to the contact and dial.

It is of course understood that the meter dial should be made from insulating material.

In case the amount to be delivered is found excessive after an operating button has been depressed, the button marked Stop Will open the circuit through the coil F of the electrically operated valve B, causing the valve to close instantly and the flow to cease.

It is evident that operating buttons D may be electric contacts as shown in the drawing or may be extensions to the armatures of relays C and operated manually.

In the foregoing description I have described an apparatus in which the electric valve Bl. actuates contacts G to operate the pump, but' obviously the contacts G may be omitted if the liquid flow through the meter is under gas pressure or a gravity head.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A liquid-dispensing apparatus comprising a meter; means for forcing liquid through said meter; means for predetermining the quantity of liquid to be delivered from the meter; a valve adapted to control the flow of liquid from said meter, said valve being controlled by electrically operated means connected in circuit with said predetermining means; and electric contacts on the meter connected in said cir-' cuit for controlling the shut-oil of said valve and said liquid-forcing means.

2. A liquid-dispensing apparatus comprising a meter; means for forcing liquid through said meter; means for predetermining the quantity of liquid to be delivered from the meter; a valve adapted to control the flow of liquid from said meter, said valve being controlled by electrically operated means connected in circuit with said predetermining means; and adjustable said circuit for controlling the shut-ofi of electric contacts on the meter connected in said valve and said liquid-forcing means.

3. A liquid-dispensing ap aratus comprising a meter; means for orcing'liquid through the meter; a valve adapted to control the flow of liquid from said meter, said valve being controlled by electrically operated means; control relays connected in circuit with said valve-controlling means; and electric contacts on the meter, said contacts being respectively connected with the windings of said relays, and each relay being adapted to control the circuit of said valvecontrolling means and said liquid-forcing means. i

4. A liquid-dispensing apparatus comprising a meter; means for forcing liquid through said meter; a valve' adapted to control the flow of liquid from said meter, said valve being controlled by electrically-operated'means; electric contacts on the meter,

said contacts bein connected in circuit with said valve-contro ing means for controlling the shut-off of said valve; and stop means connected in circuit with said valve-controlling means for closing the valve independent y of said meter contacts.

5. A liquid-dispensing apparatus comprising a meter; a valve adapted to control the flow of liquid from said meter, said valve being controlled by electrically operated means; means for predetermining the quantity of liquid to be delivered from the meter, said connected in circuit with said valve-controlling means; and means on the meter connected in circuit with said redetermining means for controlling the s ut-ofi' of said valve.

RICHARD H. nous.v

redetermining means being 

